Saturday, February 12, 2011

My Week

After playing a run of Pirates of Penzance two weeks ago and a Brahms/Wyner concert last weekend, I hardly had a chance to breathe before this week was underway.

Monday: Practice for half an hour, then into Boston for two-hour school orchestra rehearsal (Dvorak, Kodaly, and Bartok), drive home, practice for half an hour, off to a Thoroughly Modern Millie pit rehearsal, conduct children's orchestra rehearsal, coach high school chamber ensemble, grocery shop, home by 8:30, dinner, practice for two and a half hours, bed.

Tuesday: Practice for half an hour, drive to school orchestra rehearsal (string sectionals), home, practice one hour, get car inspected so I don't get a ticket, practice half an hour, teach seven students, G___ orchestra rehearsal (Brahms, Rossini, and Beethoven), home around 10:30 pm, late dinner, practice until 1:00 am with practice mute so as not to disturb Nathan, bed.

Wednesday: Practice for half an hour in the morning, teach one morning lesson to a home schooled student, into Boston for school orchestra rehearsal, home, teach nine students, Millie pit dress rehearsal, home around 10 pm, practice until bed around midnight.

Thursday: Up at 5:00 am, shower and get ready, drive into Boston for a morning audition, take audition, screw up audition quite fantastically, go to school orchestra rehearsal, feed parking meter, try to find a practice room to prepare for violin lesson, sit on the floor of a friend's practice room in utter exhaustion after failing to find an available room, go to violin lesson, orchestral excerpts class, Millie show, home at 10:30, practice, bed.

Friday: Practice for an hour in the morning, school orchestra rehearsal (string sectionals), run to feed parking meter, back to school building for 3-hour class on Shostakovich, feed meter, quartet rehearsal, home to pick up Nathan but no time to even go inside, Millie show, done at 10:30, grocery shopping on the way home to get ingredients for a cake, home at 11:00, prepare cake and put it in the oven, practice from midnight to 1 am, blog about my crazy week while I continue to wait for the cake layers to finish baking.

[The cake is for a reception for Nathan to be held Sunday afternoon at the church where he has worked for five years. He resigned from his position back in December, and this Sunday is his last day. I'll probably write more about it sometime. I offered to bring his favorite cake for the reception because I love him, and because my life just lacked meaning back when I understood the phrase "free time."]

It's pretty much been a horrible week. It's not that I mind being busy, really; I just hate being so busy I don't feel like I have time to do all the things I'm doing to the best of my ability.

But if I can make it through the weekend I'll get a fresh start next week, and maybe I'll actually find a few minutes to put in some much-needed practice time on that Dvorak symphony before our next rehearsal on Monday. Here's what my weekend holds:

Saturday: Up at 7:00 am, practice, teach two lessons, dress rehearsal for Mahler/Vaughan-Williams/Elgar concert in Swampscott, drive to Ipswich high school, teach eight students, home for half an hour, put in any needed practice on Mahler and Vaughan-Williams, final Millie show, hopefully home by 10:30, make sure house guest for the night has clean sheets and is comfortable, make ganache frosting for cake, assemble and frost cake, try to get to bed by midnight.

Sunday: Up at 6:30, get ready for church, church choir rehearsal, sing in/attend two services there for the last time (halleLUjah, but that is another story for another time), try not to yawn (because, you may recall, I've been chastised for such behavior), attend reception and try to smile at everyone graciously, depart church with delicious finality, to Swampscott for a 3 pm concert, and finally, home home home by 6 or so.

And Sunday evening I get to spend time with my husband!

Some people look forward to their weekends. I don't tend to be one of those people. But weekend, I will survive you. Dvorak symphony with way too many high notes, I will conquer you. Students, I will try to be a good teacher to you. Vaughan-Williams, I will try to practice you, and failing that, to fake your hard spots to the best of my ability. [I'm sorry.]

Timer went off. Cake is baked. Can no longer think in complete sentences or otherwise function. Bed.